[csmkersh]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The chief Western U.S. federal appeals court stood by its decision on Friday allowing a wrongful death lawsuit to proceed against a gun manufacturer.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to have a larger en banc panel of judges reconsider its 2 to 1 November ruling that allowed a lawsuit against Glock Inc. and gun sellers. The suit alleges negligence for using a distribution scheme that made it likely their guns would end up in the hands of illegal buyers.

For the rest of the STORY

 

[mikegunner]

Almost nothing any court or person does today truly surprises me.

Here locally, about 10+ years ago, a County Deputy Sherrif went on a call about a car that had been abandoned and was possibly rigged with a bomb (owner of car was a munitions expert in military and had previously been investigated for local bombings). The Deputy went to the scene and met a tow truck driver there who had been dispatched to tow the vehicle. Deputy (in an act of ULTIMATE STUPIDITY) opens the drivers door of the car --- BOOM!! and the Deputy got thrown 40-60' and landed on the bank of the river. The Deputy lived (with some disabilities) and had the audacity to sue and collect money from the insurance company that insures the counties cruisers using the logic that it was the cruiser that got him to the scene of the bombing ---- AND HE COLLECTED

Go Figure!

Mike

 

[JRWnTN]

The Deputy lived (with some disabilities) and had the audacity to sue and collect money from the insurance company that insures the counties cruisers using the logic that it was the cruiser that got him to the scene of the bombing ---- AND HE COLLECTED

The deputy's lawsuit may have been under the uninsured motorist coverage on the vehicle. I'm aware of cases involving unintended shootings inside a vehicle where the UM coverage was invoked.

I hate to say it, Mike, but West Virginia courts have made some rulings that would seem odd, unless you live in California.

 

[mikegunner]

I hate to say it, Mike, but West Virginia courts have made some rulings that would seem odd, unless you live in California.

Don't I know it!!! We have one of the worst Family Law systems in the US and one of the worst business climates to boot! The US Chamber was unable to beat the worst State Supreme Court Justice's in the primary election. If it were not for a well established family business, I would have left this place LONG ago!

Mike

 

[WaltGraham]

Recently had a couple of arc welding fatalities hereabouts. I suspect operator error (weld current and water being a bad mix), but the equipment itself (sound familiar?) tends to always be the prime suspect...

 

[BigMike]

It is always easier to blame the hardware than the person operating it.

It is amazing to me how many guns go off by themselves, when they weren't loaded, and nobody's finger was on the trigger.

Last time I checked, neither arc welders nor firearms were equipped with brains.

Unfortunately, neither are some of the owners thereof. :sm_angel:

 

[WaltGraham]

Yep, and as the hardware makers usually have the deepest pockets, guess who'll catch the litigation?

 

[JRWnTN]

A month or so ago, I listened to a radio call-in show in which the host had as his guest a female member of some anti-gun group (maybe the Violence Policy Center). The woman was trying to explain a lawsuit against a firearms manufacturer in which a minor removed the magazine from a pistol, unloaded the magazine, inserted the empty magazine and shot a friend with the round which was in the chamber.

The woman kept saying that the pistol needed a safety to prevent it from firing with an empty magazine. The host and some callers tried to explain that there is nothing defective about a pistol which is capable of firing the last round. (I think the actual lawsuit claims the pistol should have had a more visible loaded chamber indicator).

The show confirmed two things for me:

1. Most of the anti-gun people are completely ignorant of firearms (i.e. list of evil features defining a "semi-automatic assault weapon").

2. The people behind these lawsuits are not going to stop at banning or strictly regulating firearms. When a caller compared holding a gun manufacturer liable for criminal use of its product with holding a car manufacturer liable for a drunk driver, the representative did not dismiss the comparision. Instead, she noted that there were devices to have the driver give a breath sample before starting the car. She suggested that whether such a device should be installed on all cars was an issue for juries to decide.

 

[Jag45Colt]

I have to say, that having a pistol that can't fire without a round in a mag is one of the top twenty stupid idea I've head (another being the knuckle head who used an arc welder while probably taking a damn shower, honestly the lack of old fasioned common sense, brain power and mostly, responsibilty for ones actions amazes me. the kid down the road got his playstation back, after it was taken away because he failed math, he said, that they didn't show him how to do it, so the mother gave him back his PS2 so he can kill more cops in some terrible video game called "grand theft auto vice city" although I'm 18, I never did learn how to play a video game, and I cant say I missed out on anything!